Dearborn, Michigan — In a conference affair the Aquinas women's basketball team will look back on and wish for a different outcome, UM-Dearborn instead hung on at home for a 67-61 win to give themselves a better shot of reaching the upcoming WHAC Tournament.

The Saints (10-15) got behind early, battled all the way back to tie the game at 52-52 in the fourth quarter but didn't have enough in the tank to prevent the Wolverines (7-18) from snapping a five-game losing streak.

With the road loss, the Saints (5-12 WHAC) now find themselves in a heated three-team race with Lourdes (5-12) and UM-Dearborn (4-13) to nab the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament with three regular-season games remaining. Lourdes holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over AQ, meaning the Saints no longer control their own destiny and need the Gray Wolves to at least drop one more game than they do over the next week and a half.

Aquinas finds themselves in this predicament after shooting 28.4% on Wednesday night (Feb. 8) against UM-Dearborn. It's the second-lowest percentage the Saints have shot this season. Yet, at the same time, they tied a season-low by only committing eight turnovers in 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, the Wolverines shot 54.8% in the first half to lead 43-27 at halftime.

AQ adjusted admirably to hold UM-Dearborn to 1-for-16 shooting in the third quarter to get back in the contest. The Wolverines ended up with a 39.3 shooting percentage for the game.

The Wolverines only made field goal in the third quarter was a triple drained by Abby Fullerton less than a minute into the frame to give UM-Dearborn its largest lead of the game (19 points) at 46-27.

JaKarri Alven led all Saints in scoring while posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She made two free throws with six and a half minutes left that sparked a 6-0 AQ run in less than 60 seconds to even the score at 52-52.

Aquinas, however, couldn't grab its first lead since they were up 4-2 on a jumper made by Brionne Crews three minutes into the game.

Instead, a pair of clutch 3-pointers by UM-Dearborn's Siena Smith and Jordan Banks helped the Wolverines' escape AQ's comeback attempt. The Saints had one key turnover and a handful of missed shots in the final 1:25, which also derailed their shot at victory. 

Smith finished with a game-high 20 points on 5-for-9 shooting (3-for-7 from deep) and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Foul trouble lingered over each team for a majority of the contest with 33 combined personal fouls called. Yet, both coaches managed to play their cards right and prevented anyone from fouling out of the game.

While Alven was AQ's only double-digit scorer, the Saints got helpful offensive contributions from Mauriya Barnes (nine points and four assists), Brighton Miller (eight points), Alexis Thomas (eight points) and Jayda Smith (eight points).

Eliza Brown was a force at the defensive end with a career-high five blocks. The team finished with eight blocks in total, a new season-high.

Aquinas now turns its focus to Saturday (Feb. 11) for its regular-season home finale against No. 12-ranked Indiana Tech. The Saints will be celebrating Senior Day with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.